Competency Structures

Competency structures are hierarchies made of a Competency (or Competencies), Learning Objectives, and Learning Activities. Competencies are at the top of the hierarchy, learning objectives are in the middle, and learning activities are at the bottom of the hierarchy (pictured).

A Competency (Blue) represents a collection of skills and knowledge. A competency structure can consist of multiple competencies, and one competency can be the parent of another.

Learning Objectives (Yellow) are statements that describe specific actions that a person will be able to do. Learning objectives should be concrete and observable.

Learning Activities (Red) are activities that will elicit the behavior defined by the learning objective. They are how students demonstrate the competencies.

A Learning Objective is achieved when all of its associated Learning Activities are achieved. Similar, a Competency is achieved when all of its associated Learning Objectives and/or Competencies are achieved.